How to advertise your business for free

If you own a business, it can be tough to connect with your customers online. Social media, search engine optimization and other tools help, but you can't afford to ignore paid advertising.

Search engine ads are some of the most effective. These are the ads that show up on the first page of a Google search, for example.

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Although this prime real estate doesn't come cheap, some of the most well-known sites will feature your ads free of charge for a limited time.

All of these sites use what is called pay-per-click advertising. It means you pay only when a potential customer actually clicks on your ad. These sites will give you plenty of free clicks to start you off.

Google - These days, you'd be hard pressed to find a site that doesn't feature Google Ads. You'll even see them on some of my pages. Right now, Google is offering new users a $75 credit just for signing up with Ad Words.

Ad Words will display your ad on searches that use keywords that you set. You can customize what your ad says and change it at any time. If you're offering a special sale, add it to your advertisement to generate more clicks.

Ad Words makes it so you pay only when someone actually clicks on your ads. You can set the amount you want to pay each day, so you'll never go over your budget.